Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
Mary Lasker: The Woman Who Healed America paints the never-before-told story of a remarkable woman and her remarkable life. As a health activist and philanthropist Lasker worked to raise funds for medical research and was co-creator of the Lasker Foundation. The Lasker Award is considered the most prestigious American award in medical research. Lasker and her husband joined the American Society for the Control of Cancer which at the time was sleepy and ineffectual and transformed it into the American Cancer Society. Following her husband's death, she founded the National Health Education Committee. She also played major roles in promoting and expanding the National Institutes of Health, helping its budget expand by a factor of 2000 times from $2.4 million in 1945 to $5.5 billion in 1985. Lasker was also instrumental in getting the US government to fund the War on Cancer in 1971.
The portrait that emerges in Persons's engaging and deeply researched biography is one of a feminist who used her femininity wisely. She was savvy, steely, and deliberate. At a time when women in research laboratories and the halls of Congress were an anomaly, Mary Lasker knew how to play the long game, smashing stereotypes in the fashion of female icons like Jeannette Rankin, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Shirley Chisholm. She is inspirational not because she was poor, down-trodden, or in ill health. In fact, she was quite the opposite of all of those, which makes her tireless work on behalf of people she would never know even more extraordinary.
More than a biography of a woman with a mission, this book is an absorbing history of the country's march toward newer and better treatments of humanity's most feared diseases and conditions. When ill, today's Americans have the luxury of going to a doctor, getting a diagnosis, and following a treatment protocol. Thanks to the best medical research facility in the world - the National Institutes of Health (NIH) - we take those things for granted. Yet prior to World War II, NIH was a lowly off-shoot of the Public Health Service. We have Mary Lasker to thank for the sweeping research reform.
Mary positioned herself at the crossroads of politics, science and medicine - current hot topics in education and literature. And because of Mary's tenacity and unending lobbying, she is effectively the architect of NIH's heart and lung, mental illness, infectious diseases, and cancer institutes. Most significantly, she was the catalytic agent who persuaded Richard Nixon to sign the National Cancer Act, turning the tide on survivorship of the disease.
Synopsis
"I am opposed to heart disease and cancer the way one is opposed to sin." With that as her battle cry, health activist and philanthropist Mary Woodard Lasker had a singular goal: saving lives by increasing medical research. Together with her husband, advertising genius Albert, they created the Lasker Foundation, bestowing the Lasker Awards. Known as the "American Nobels," these became the most prestigious research awards in America. The Laskers' next step was transforming the sleepy and ineffectual American Society for the Control of Cancer, reinventing it as the American Cancer Society in 1944.
But the real increase in medical research funding occurred when Mary discovered a revolutionary source: the federal government. "I'm just a catalytic agent," she would insist, while she tirelessly lobbied Congress and presidents alike. She played a major role in expanding the National Institutes of Health from a single entity to the largest research facility in the world. A feminist who used her femininity wisely, Mary's ultimate victory was bringing together two political adversaries to help launch the original cancer moonshot: the 1971 National Cancer Act.
This deeply researched biography paints the portrait of a woman who was savvy, steely, and deliberate. Mary Lasker courageously positioned herself at the crossroads of politics, science, and medicine. At a time when women in re- search laboratories and the halls of Congress were anomalies, she smashed stereotypes in the fashion of Jeannette Rankin, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Shirley Chisholm. As eloquently described in this absorbing history, the country's march to conquer humanity's most feared maladies was well- fueled by its fearless and feisty crusader, Mary Lasker.
Synopsis
The never-before-told story of the woman who moved mountains for medical research and human health. "I am opposed to heart disease and cancer the way one is opposed to sin." With that as her battle cry, health activist and philanthropist Mary Woodard Lasker had a singular goal: saving lives by increasing medical research. Together with her husband, advertising genius Albert, they created the Lasker Foundation, bestowing the Lasker Awards. Known as the "American Nobels," these became the most prestigious research awards in America. The Laskers' next step was transforming the sleepy and ineffectual American Society for the Control of Cancer, reinventing it as the American Cancer Society in 1944.
But the real increase in medical research funding occurred when Mary discovered a revolutionary source: the federal government. "I'm just a catalytic agent," she would insist, while she tirelessly lobbied Congress and presidents alike. She played a major role in expanding the National Institutes of Health from a single entity to the largest research facility in the world. A feminist who used her femininity wisely, Mary's ultimate victory was bringing together two political adversaries to help launch the original cancer moonshot: the 1971 National Cancer Act.
This deeply researched biography paints the portrait of a woman who was savvy, steely, and deliberate. Mary Lasker courageously positioned herself at the crossroads of politics, science, and medicine. At a time when women in re- search laboratories and the halls of Congress were anomalies, she smashed stereotypes in the fashion of Jeannette Rankin, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Shirley Chisholm. As eloquently described in this absorbing history, the country's march to conquer humanity's most feared maladies was well- fueled by its fearless and feisty crusader, Mary Lasker.
Synopsis
The never-before-told story of the woman who moved mountains for medical research and human health. Mary Woodard Lasker had a singular goal: saving lives by increasing medical research. Together with her husband, advertising genius Albert, they created the Lasker Foundation, bestowing the Lasker Awards. Known as the "American Nobels," these became the most prestigious research awards in America. The Laskers' next step was transforming the sleepy and ineffectual American Society for the Control of Cancer, reinventing it as the American Cancer Society in 1944.
But the real increase in medical research funding occurred when Mary discovered a revolutionary source: the federal government. "I'm just a catalytic agent," she would insist, while she tirelessly lobbied Congress and presidents alike. She played a major role in expanding the National Institutes of Health from a single entity to the largest research facility in the world. A feminist who used her femininity wisely, Mary's ultimate victory was bringing together two political adversaries to help launch the original cancer moonshot: the 1971 National Cancer Act.
This deeply researched biography paints the portrait of a woman who was savvy, steely, and deliberate. Mary Lasker courageously positioned herself at the crossroads of politics, science, and medicine. At a time when women in research laboratories and the halls of Congress were anomalies, she smashed stereotypes in the fashion of Jeannette Rankin, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Shirley Chisholm. As eloquently described in this absorbing history, the country's march to conquer humanity's most feared maladies was well-fueled by its fearless and feisty crusader, Mary Lasker.
Synopsis
For fans of Women in White Coats and The Woman They Could Not Silence comes the never-before-told story of a woman who moved mountains for medical research and human health, "Lasker, very often the only woman in the room, comes to life--her smarts, power, money, discipline and work ethic producing some of the most important achievements in funding for medical research of the 20th century." -
Julia Sweig,
New York Times bestselling author of
Lady Bird Johnson Mary Woodard Lasker had a singular goal: saving lives by increasing medical research. Together with her husband, advertising genius Albert, they created the Lasker Foundation, bestowing the Lasker Awards. Known as the "American Nobels," these became the most prestigious research awards in America. The Laskers' next step was transforming the sleepy and ineffectual American Society for the Control of Cancer, reinventing it as the American Cancer Society in 1944.
But the real increase in medical research funding occurred when Mary discovered a revolutionary source: the federal government. "I'm just a catalytic agent," she would insist, while she tirelessly lobbied Congress and presidents alike. She played a major role in expanding the National Institutes of Health from a single entity to the largest research facility in the world. A feminist who used her femininity wisely, Mary's ultimate victory was bringing together two political adversaries to help launch the original cancer moonshot: the 1971 National Cancer Act.
This deeply researched biography paints the portrait of a woman who was savvy, steely, and deliberate. Mary Lasker courageously positioned herself at the crossroads of politics, science, and medicine. At a time when women in research laboratories and the halls of Congress were anomalies, she smashed stereotypes in the fashion of Jeannette Rankin, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Shirley Chisholm. As eloquently described in this absorbing history, the country's march to conquer humanity's most feared maladies was well-fueled by its fearless and feisty crusader, Mary Lasker.